Giannis Antetokounmpo was Worried his Injury was Worst Than Indicated

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On Wednesday night Steve Megargee of the Associated Press reported that reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo confessed that he feared the knee sprain that caused him to miss the last two games more series than first indicated.

“I was nervous right when I fell on the floor,” Antetokounmpo said Wednesday. “I was able to walk it off and play a few minutes, and I felt better, but the next day I was extremely sore, so I was nervous.”

“I practiced and scrimmaged today. I felt good, and we’ll see how I feel tomorrow.” Referencing his availability for Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics.

“I felt good, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to go, I’ve got to come back tomorrow and see how I feel tomorrow,” Antetokounmpo said. “I might go back home, and my knee swells up. I don’t know.”

Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer shared the Bucks would be careful as it pertained to the health of their franchise player.

“He looked good,” Budenholzer said. “Always, with something like this, you wait to see how it responds and how he comes in tomorrow. We’ll take it slowly. We’ll always probably err on the side of caution, but (it was) a good day for Giannis.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo was Injured Against the Los Angeles Lakers Last Friday

Antetokounmpo was injured after taking a hard fall in Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, which would end a 113-103.

“When I was on the floor, I was thinking this might be it,” Antetokounmpo said. “But thank God, I got the good training staff that trained me real well and prepared my body for all those types of falls and those types of moments. Thank God it wasn’t something really, really serious. I was happy. The team was happy. My family was happy.”

Giannis also talked about how they didn’t play smart on Friday night.

“We definitely did not play smart,” Antetokounmpo said. “We put them at the line so easily. We’ve just got to do better. Obviously, we’re going to learn a lot from this game.”

Giannis Antetekounmpo is averaging 29.6 points and 13.8 rebounds per game, while his three-point percentage has improved from 30.9 percent from 25.6 last season.

“He’s lights out, in all ways,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said pregame of the seventh-year star via Mirjam Swanson of The Orange Country Register “He keeps working on his 3-point shot and his ability to hurt you that way. He puts a lot of pressure on your defense, (he’s) difficult to guard, great defensively one-on-one, great defensively in weak-side situations.”

Before Friday’s game, Giannis talked about how he is inspired by LeBron James.

“It’s amazing. He’s 35 and playing at a high level. He just leads the path for us. A lot of times we think that ‘Ok, we’re going to retire at 35, but seeing a guy at 35, being still top-3 best player in the world, that makes us want to be there.”

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